Round Robin at Guitar Society Meetings
gimme_this...@yahoo.com
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Round Robin at Guitar Society Meetings
I sent this message to members of the San Francisco Guitar Society
1/6/10....
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I wonder if we should consider a round-robin fomat where players are
limited to a playing a single song and making it last five minutes or
less.
Where the time limit is enforced....
The advantages of a round-robin format are:
1. No one has to listen to more than five minutes of music they don't
like (just because a song is written for classical guitar doesn't mean
that everyone should be subjected to listening to 20 minutes of
someone playing it).
Or whatever it is. It might not be the music. We all get nervous.
While I received a lot of loud of applause after playing a few songs
at one meeting, one player scolded me that I should play SLOWLY with a
METRONOME !! - he must have suffered just listening to me play more
than a few notes!
But really, he was nice to me.
That's okay that he said that. Giving and taking feedback from other
players is part of the fun.
It's in a multiple song format - there is less chance for feedback.
I played better after I warmed up and not all feedback for all songs
should be the same.
2. Some players end up hogging the mic.
Combine one and two and that takes the life out of a Society meeting.
3. Players get a chance to play AFTER watching others play. This
inspires other players to play same piece - and then it's fun to
compare.
4. Suppose when it's your turn you play 10 minutes of music. As it is
now - if there are only 3 other players - but each of those players
play after you for 20 minutes - you have to wait an hour to play again
- and if a long commute is involved (in my case 4 hours - but it still
holds true even if it's two hours) - it turns out to be a waste of
time to go to a Society meeting AT ALL just to play for 10 minutes.
And then to suffer.
Everyone's situation is similar - which explains why some players hog
the mic.
Tommy Grand
It sounds like this club is nothing but trouble!
David Raleigh Arnold
> On Jan 6, 10:48 pm, "gimme_this_gimme_t...@yahoo.com"
> <gimme_this_gimme_t...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=blog.ListAll&bID=524972070
>>
>> Round Robin at Guitar Society Meetings
It is a minefield. A few suggestions:
There must not be pressure to participate or your
membership will disappear. They also serve who only sit
and listen.
Encourage duets and ensembles.
Require that all criticism be written, so that it may be anonymous,
or at least that it be saved until the end so that it can take the form
of a general discussion rather than successive personal attacks.
Regards, daveA
--
For beginners: very easy guitar music, solos, duets, exercises. Early
intermediate guitar solos. One best scale set for all guitarists.
http://www.openguitar.com/scalescomparison.html ::: plus new and
better chord and arpeggio exercises. http://www.openguitar.com
Music theory should be clues you can use,
not blues you can't lose.
gimme_this...@yahoo.com
Although it would be mislead if you thought most performances are
followed up with personal attacks.
It's fun to play there.
Yeah, our group has been through a lot of changes in the last six
years or so.
We used to meet close to the Conservatory of Music, and we
traditionally had one or two regulars who were students.
We were also located close to the large Guitar Solo guitar store -
which only sold accoustic and classical guitars.
The Conservatory moved to a much nicer facility.
And that Guitar Solo store closed.
At the Guitar Solo store that remained open - the employees aren't
Society members,
We changed locations - and that made it harder for members to get to
meetings.
We're still settling on a new place to play.
Also, we used to have a member play the role of artistic advisor.
They would recruit CG teachers and generally professional level
players to play for us (at about $500 a show) - they'd promote the
shows, and they'd keep after members to pay dues.
In 2003 we used to get 60 people at a meeting - on last Xmas we had 9.
David Raleigh Arnold
> That's a good idea - although anonymity comes with it's own perils.
>
> Although it would be mislead if you thought most performances are
> followed up with personal attacks.
That's bound to be someone's perception at some point. It's not
a matter of fact. For example, a suggestion for improvement might be
perceived as a condemnation of a performance, when that was not meant at
all.
Another way is to have a rule: No criticism whatever unless requested.
> It's fun to play there.
>
> Yeah, our group has been through a lot of changes in the last six years
> or so.
>
> We used to meet close to the Conservatory of Music, and we traditionally
> had one or two regulars who were students.
>
> We were also located close to the large Guitar Solo guitar store - which
> only sold accoustic and classical guitars.
>
> The Conservatory moved to a much nicer facility.
>
> And that Guitar Solo store closed.
>
> At the Guitar Solo store that remained open - the employees aren't
> Society members,
>
> We changed locations - and that made it harder for members to get to
> meetings.
>
> We're still settling on a new place to play.
>
> Also, we used to have a member play the role of artistic advisor.
>
> They would recruit CG teachers and generally professional level players
> to play for us (at about $500 a show) - they'd promote the shows, and
> they'd keep after members to pay dues.
>
> In 2003 we used to get 60 people at a meeting - on last Xmas we had 9.
Call every one of the absent friends and find out what happened.
Finding the solution may be easier than finding the problem.
At worst you'll learn something. You didn't mention ensemble
playing. Is that's a base not touched? The members can't do
that at home by themselves.
You could host some enrolled students periodically, which would benefit
both you and a music program. I cannot imagine a music school that would
not welcome another venue for extramural playing. Regards, daveA